Samsung Galaxy Legally Banned in Australia

An Australian court has temporarily banned the company from selling its new Galaxy tablet in the country. This appeared to be one more setback for the South Korean electronics giant in a worldwide patent battle with Apple Inc., accusing it of copying the electronic devices.

Last week Federal Court Justice granted a temporary injunction against the sales of the company’s Galaxy Tab in Australia. The ruling will prevent the company from selling the tablet in the country in its current form unless the court issues a further order, or until resolving an issue over a patent. This appeared to be a blow for Samsung, which really hoped to launch its new device just before Christmas sales. The court decision of the Australian court came after courts in other countries, such as Germany and the Netherlands, that also made judgements upholding Apple’s claims of its IP being appropriated by Samsung.

The battle included ten countries and it has underlined the perception of Samsung as a very good imitator rather than a pace setter. Within the last years, Samsung has become #1 worldwide in TVs and #2 in smartphones in sales. However, in contrast to Apple, this company hasn’t mesmerized the users with its originality and innovation.

This past April, Apple launched a lawsuit against Samsung in the US, accusing it of copying the product design, as well as user interface and packaging. South Korean company fought back, filing lawsuits in respond to accuse Apple of patent violation of its wireless telecommunications technology. Apple filed the Australian lawsuit this summer, where it also accused the company of stealing its touch screen technology. The country’s judge explained that she had been granting the temporary injunction in part since she felt Apple had a likelihood of winning the case against Samsung.

Thus far, the judge’s full orders weren’t published and it wasn’t immediately clear if Samsung could try to sell an edition of the electronic device that removed the features Apple listed in the lawsuit. Of course, Samsung was disappointed with the court decision and promised to seek legal advice. They also promised to go on with their legal proceeding against Apple’s claim to make sure their innovative devices remain available to users.